Given the international reach of our 2015 report Children and clinical research: ethical issues, it’s surprising to recall that at the start of the project, we had a serious discussion as to whether we could justify extending the scope of the project beyond the borders of the UK. (more…)
Last week I had the double good fortune of being invited to Padua to contribute to an intensive short course on the ethics of paediatric research hosted by the University – a beautiful place to visit (especially in May) and a topic very close to my heart. In particular, my hosts asked me to talk about the ‘participatory methodology’ at the core of the Council’s two-year project that culminated in our 2015 report Children and clinical research: ethical issues. Reviewing how we had approached that project, and what we had learned from it, I was prompted to think a little further about whom we try to engage with our work – and why. (more…)
One of the early challenges of the Nuffield Council’s Working Party on cosmetic procedures has been to define what it is we should include in the concept of ‘cosmetic procedures’. Is it really possible to draw clear and consistent dividing lines between medical procedures undertaken for cosmetic purposes as opposed to rehabilitative/therapeutic purposes? (more…)
The Council’s report on the ethical issues raised by children’s involvement in clinical research was published in May 2015. The report draws on the contributions of over 500 children and young people, parents and professionals, and its recommendations are made accessible in both a magazine format and as an animation. 9 months on from its publication, this post focusses on progress with one of the key recommendations – a review of the European Medicines Agency class waiver system in order to promote research into new medicines for children. (more…)
Back in June, I wrote about the Beauty Demands seminar we hosted here at the Nuffield Council that looked at the role played by health professionals in both creating and meeting the increasing demand for invasive cosmetic procedures. In the next seminar of the series, held in Birmingham (also see Kate Harvey’s previous blog), we turned our attention to the globalisation of beauty, debunking the myth that the rising interest in surgical ‘fixes’ is a trend emerging only in the wealthy western world. (more…)
This blog post was written following the second Beauty Demands workshop. The third workshop will take place 14-15 October in Birmingham and will focus on the globalisation of beauty. The deadline for abstracts is 16 July at 4pm. This is the second of two blog posts.
This blog post was written following the second Beauty Demands workshop. The third workshop will take place 14-15 October in Birmingham and will focus on the globalisation of beauty. The deadline for abstracts is 16 July at 4pm. This is the first of two blog posts.
When we started our project looking at the ethical issues of clinical research with children back in June, we got a very strong message from children and young people that the first thing to do was to involve them properly in our own project.
Five years ago, the Organ Donation Taskforce published an ambitious action plan, Organs for Transplant, setting out proposals to increase the annual number of deceased donors in the UK by 50%. Remarkably, this target was achieved in April this year. The heart of the Taskforce’s approach was the need to improve every aspect of the systems surrounding donation and transplantation, so that all potential donors are identified, their families sensitively approached, and the right professionals and facilities in place to facilitate donation and subsequent transplant. As a result, 30.5% more transplants per year are now taking place, potentially transforming the lives of those who received them.
Last week, the Human Tissue Authority publicised the remarkable news that the annual number of ‘altruistic living organ donors’ – people offering to give one of their kidneys to someone they don’t know and will probably never meet – has increased threefold, to 104 people from a previous high of 38. One such donor, Maggie Harris, who donated one of her kidneys six years ago, was invited in a BBC interview to explain how she came to make what many of us would regard as a momentous decision.
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